Dallas Cowboys Blog

Last year, at around this time, the weight room at Valley Ranch was empty. The players were locked out and waging a labor battle with the NFL and its owners.

The workout program instituted by new strength and conditioning coach Mike Woicik proved to be collateral damage. And that was an unfortunate development for the Cowboys, considering that Woicik, who rejoined the Cowboys in 2011 after a seven-year stint with the club in the 1990s, had his fingerprints over the last two dynasties, in Dallas and New England.

“Only two teams have won three Super Bowls in four years, and he was the strength coach for both of them,” former Cowboys fullback and Fox television analyst Daryl Johnston said. “And I don’t think that is by coincidence.”

The offseason is when Woicik makes his greatest impact, and because of the lockout last year he was denied a chance to mold and shape the Cowboys. That won’t happen this spring and on Monday Valley Ranch sprung to life once again as players reported for the first phase of voluntary workouts.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to have our players be with [Woicik],” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said, “because I think he has a track record of developing individual players and hopefully he’ll help develop our football team.”